Should Music Be Political? With Grammy-Winning Jewish Musician Joanie Leeds
Being Jewish with Jonah Platt
Jonah Platt
4.9 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 August 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
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It’s music meets mishpacha in this heartfelt new episode of Being Jewish with Jonah Platt: 30 Minute Mensches! Grammy-winning Jewish children’s music artist Joanie Leeds joins Jonah to share stories about the triumphs and challenges of making Jewish music in today’s climate. They discuss the debut of her 12th studio album Ageless, an ode to multi-generational heritage and Jewish values. Joanie and Jonah also tackle the line between music as political expression and music as the universal language of unity. They also get into:
- 🎶 How Joanie turned banned children’s books into the protest album Freadom
- ✡️ The challenges of advocating for a Jewish music category at the Grammys
- 🎤 Collaborating with her daughter on song and on the stage
- 📚 The greatness of Jewish hero Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- 🎸 Balancing inclusivity and political messaging in family-friendly music
Press Play and join us for 30 minutes of music, meaning, and Jewish joy!
Being Jewish Listener Survey (please help us!)
https://forms.gle/rjvhcKgDD2yUknEw6
All Things Joanie!
- Joanie Leeds’ YouTube Channel
- Joanie Leeds’ Spotify Channel
- Joanie Leeds on Apple Music
- Joanie Leeds’ Website
- Pre Order Joanie’s Album
- Add your name to Joanie’s Recording Academy Jewish Artists List!
Host & Production Team
Host: Jonah Platt; Produced by Rainbow Creative (Executive Producer: Matthew Jones; Story Producer: Sasha Nelson; Content Director: Alexandra Fugère; Associate Producer: Sean Leviashvili); Editor: Post Relativity & Mike O’ Brien; Executive Assistant: Josie Rothschild; Graphic Designer: Noah Bell
MENTIONED IN EPISODE
- Joanie’s Petition to Make a Jewish Music Grammy Category
- What does the Hebrew word “Ruach” mean?
- How Mister Rogers Tackled Taboo/Difficult Topics for Children
- Joanie wins her first Grammy
- Male Acts & Performers Dominate 2018 Grammy Nominations
- Coldplay’s Chris Martin Welcomes Israelis & Palestinians at Concerts
- Rise in American Book Burning
- List of Banned Books
- Children’s Book: And Tango Makes Three
- Controversy Around Children’s Book “And Tango Makes Three”
- “FAUCI OUCHIE” by Joanie Leeds
- What is Banned Books Week?
- Who was Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
- Controversy Surrounding RBG’s Reluctance to Retire
- RBG’s Contributions to Female Financial Freedom
- Children’s Music Network (CMN)
- Joanie Leeds & Mikey Pauker Push For Jewish Music Category in The Grammys
- What is Grandparent’s Day?
- Joanie’s Upcoming Concert at the Kennedy Center
- 90s Music Legend Lisa Loeb
- Lisa Loeb’s Instagram
- Lisa Loeb Dishes on Being A Jewish Mom
- “Camp Lisa” Lisa Loeb’s Foundation & Song
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Shalom, Kavarim, Banot, and welcome to another very special episode of the world's number one Jewish podcast. |
| 0:08.1 | I have to ask for a small favor. |
| 0:10.4 | As an independent show, we don't have a massive marketing machine behind us. |
| 0:14.6 | Our growth is purely organic, fueled by dedicated viewers and listeners like you. |
| 0:19.5 | So if you would be so kind, please take 30 seconds, |
| 0:24.0 | head over to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, find this show, and leave me a five-star rating and a short |
| 0:30.0 | written review. I love seeing all of your thoughtful and generous feedback. Some of it has even |
| 0:35.0 | made it onto the show and may again. And as of this recording, |
| 0:38.5 | we are just eight ratings away from hitting 500 on Apple. Crossing that threshold would be a huge |
| 0:44.3 | milestone for us. It's a small mitzv on your part, but it really is the fuel that allows us to |
| 0:50.0 | keep these amazing conversations going. So thank you in advance. Unless you don't leave a rating, |
| 0:56.1 | in which case you're a butthead. Hey guys, it's Jonah here. Before we jump into today's episode of 30 |
| 1:02.3 | minute mentions, I have a favor to ask. We have a new listener survey out, and I would really |
| 1:07.7 | appreciate it if you could take a couple minutes to fill it out. |
| 1:13.4 | We're doing a little market research and we could really use your help. |
| 1:17.9 | So you can find the survey in the show notes, the description for today's episode, |
| 1:22.4 | as well as on our Instagram at Being Jewish podcast in the bio. |
| 1:23.5 | We will have a link there. |
| 1:27.0 | Thank you so much to Darabha and enjoy the episode. That's my duty to put these stories into songs. |
| 1:31.5 | Hey, if it's a little controversial, I'm okay with it. |
| 1:34.4 | As a Jewish artist in the children's music space, |
| 1:37.5 | is there a difference between what you might have faced before October 7th and after? |
... |
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